Wine Spectator | 21 to 30

21 Barossa Valley Estate
Shiraz Barossa Valley E&E Black Pepper 2002 97 / $85 • Australia
A cooperative founded in 1985 by local growers, Barossa Valley Estate excels with Shiraz. E&E Black Pepper is the flagship wine, made only from vines 60 or more years of age. Cool weather in 2002 left some Barossa reds excessively crisp, but BVE made a classic, achieving its highest score ever; it‘s a profound wine with muscular tannins and intense fruit. 1,200 cases made.
22 Alain Jaume
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine Grand Veneur Les Origines 2003 94 / $40 • Rhône
Alain Jaume manages the Grand Veneur domaine with his two sons, Sébastien and Christophe. The domaine was founded in 1826 by Mathieu Jaume and includes 37 acres in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This 2003 is a blend of estate fruit and is made up of 40 percent Grenache and 30 percent each of Syrah and Mourvèdre, with yields kept at between 1.5 tons per acre and 2.25 tons per acre. 1,000 cases imported.
23 Marchesi de‘ Frescobaldi
Brunello di Montalcino Castelgiocondo Ripe al Convento Riserva 1999 97 / $99 • Tuscany
The Frescobaldi family has been making wine in Tuscany for centuries, but its current reputation has been greatly enhanced through a string of excellent wines from the Brunello estate of Castelgiocondo. The Ripe al Convento is a parcel in one of the best sections of the property‘s 350 acres of vines. It was the best Brunello in the outstanding 1999 vintage. The riserva spends two years in oak and two years in bottle before release. 2,200 cases made.
24 DuMOL
Syrah Russian River Valley 2003 95 / $50 • California
DuMol has become synonymous with high quality California Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah since its first vintage in 1996. In 2003, winemaker Andy Smith crafted a Russian River Valley bottling in addition to the highly rated Eddies Patch Syrah. A third of the grapes are from the estate‘s Hoppe vineyard, with the remainder of the fruit from three vineyards whose farming practices are controlled by DuMol. 866 cases made.
25 Conterno-Fantino
Barolo Sorí Ginestra 2001 99 / $99 • Piedmont
This is the highest-scoring Barolo yet from the 2001 vintage and comes from partners Claudio Conterno and Guido Fantino. They own a stake in the 37-acre Ginestra vineyard, located near the town of Monforte d‘Alba in the heart of Barolo country. Ginestra shone in the 2001 vintage, producing a number of outstanding Barolos, but none more impressive than this. 1,370 cases made.
26 Paolo Scavino
Barolo Bric dël Fiasc 2001 95 / $105 • Piedmont
Scavino‘s 6.5-acre Nebbiolo vineyard Bric dël Fiasc is located near the town of Castiglione Falletto, one of the key communes in Barolo. First made in 1978, it‘s the flagship wine of the family winery and in great vintages rarely misses a classic rating, enhancing Castiglione‘s reputation for producing wines of great complexity, concentration and aging power. 800 cases made.
27 Quinta do Vallado
Douro Reserva 2003 94 / $36 • Portugal
From traditional Port country comes this red table wine that joins the old with the new. At the direction of family proprietors Guilherme Alvares Ribeiro and wife Maria Ferreira, a restructuring of the vineyards was completed in 1998. This wine is a blend of more than 20 varieties, including old-vine Tinta Roriz, Tinta Amarela and Touriga Franca, as well as Touriga Nacional and Sousa from the newly planted vineyards. 2,000 cases made.
28 Leeuwin
Chardonnay Margaret River Art Series 2002 96 / $65 • Australia
Among the first sites Denis Horgan planted at Leeuwin in 1974 was Block 20, which forms the backbone of the Art Series Chardonnay. Leeuwin fleshes out the wine with grapes selected from its 62 acres of Chardonnay vines (out of 346 total) on gravelly slopes just a few miles from the Indian Ocean. Australia‘s top Chardonnay, it often ranks among the world‘s best whites. 500 cases imported.
29 Brancaia
Maremma Toscana Ilatraia 2003 96 / $56 • Tuscany
Rocketing to the top in Maremma, a burgeoning appellation near the southern coast of Tuscany, is the second vintage of this oak-aged blend of 60 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 30 percent Sangiovese and 10 percent Petit Verdot. Barbara Kronenberg-Widmer makes the wine, with the aid of consulting enologist Carlo Ferrini. The Brancaia estate, owned by the Widmer family of Switzerland, covers 87 acres. 1,650 cases made.
30 Rosenblum
Zinfandel Paso Robles Richard Sauret Vineyards 2003 92 / $19 • California
Each of winemaker Jeff Cohn‘s vineyard-designated Zinfandels is made with specific yeast and barrel programs that he believes best bring out that vineyard‘s potential. The Richard Sauret bottling is made with three yeasts that originate in the Rhône Valley, which respectively evoke pepper, dark fruit and mineral qualities. Cohn uses oak barrels from more than 20 cooperages; this wine sees about one-quarter new oak. 7,029 cases made.




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